LAKEWOOD - You've got a friend in me - that was the message delivered by "Toy Story 3" characters Buzz and Woody during an anti-bullying rally Thursday at the Lakewood YMCA.

With the help of the Disney on Ice characters, who are in town for a production at the Long Beach Arena, about 150 children each took an oath promising to say "stop" and to take a stand when they see others getting bullied, or when they themselves are.

"I think this is a huge subject to cover with kids, especially from this age through to university," said Jade Zeron, a skater with Disney on Ice Pixar Toy Story 3, and the mistress of ceremonies for Thursday's event. "It's peer pressure upon peer pressure and that's all that they see - trying to be better than someone else. It shouldn't be like that, but it's society and we can't fight it. But there are ways of trying to prevent it."

During the event, three YMCA children read their winning essays about their experiences with bullying.

Payton Andrews, 9, read about how she had once been bullied in school.

"Being bullied made me feel sad," she said. "I told the teacher the girl was bullying me and she (the girl) had to go somewhere else. It's not nice to bully people because it's going to make them feel sad."

One known reason for bullying is people's differences, said Kelly Campanelly, program director for After School Enrichment YMCA.

"I think it's very important for kids to know that just because someone is different than you, looks different than you, acts different than you - you should still treat them with respect and kindness and try to be a friend to everybody," she said.

According to Stomp Out Bullying, a national anti-bullying and anti-cyber-bullying program for kids and teens, bullying is a problem that affects millions of students of all races and groups. One out of four kids is bullied and 43 percent have been bullied while online, according to the organization.

Buzz and Woody's popularity make them a great choice to carry Disney's anti-bullying message, Zeron said.

"With us doing this with Buzz and Woody, kids can look at them and say they've been friends for this long and they've been friends with kids all over the world, why can't kids get along the same way," she said.

Mitchell Koss, 10, said, "I was bullied when I was younger and it felt bad," he said. "I think it's important for people to not bully other people because it's just mean, it's not nice, and it could really make people feel bad."

With his peers, Mitchell read his essay of how important it is to not bully others.

Victims of bullying need to know they are not alone, said Campanelly.

"There are a lot of kids out there who are being bullied," she said. "They need to let somebody know and learn to walk away and to treat other people with kindness, and hopefully it will come back at you."